Cecil John Rhodes once said this was the most beautiful area he had ever seen. As for me, I spent hours entranced by the mercurial moods of the Mkomazi River, and the rugged sandstone cliffs brooding above its banks.
Whether flowing furiously or gliding lazily, the river is the heartbeat of Duma Manzi Eco Lodge and Spa, a luxury boutique eco-lodge set deep in a gorge, amid endless rolling hills, near Richmond.
Even before we reached our destination, we felt chilled. The one-hour drive from Durban had been a relaxed meander through countryside lush with emerald green grass.
Transferring to a 4x4, we drove first to one of the lookout platforms, from where we could see the Mkomazi River twisting and writhing sinuously far below.
I take the liberty of quoting from Rhodes’s writings (in 1870) about this same area. He and his brother, Herbert, once farmed cotton here, before he moved to Kimberley, fame and fortune:
“I never saw such an extraordinarily beautiful place in my life. There, hundreds of feet below us, stretched out the whole valley with our huts looking like specks, and in the distance there were hills rising one above another, with a splendid blue tint on them.”
The road plunges some 500m rapidly to the valley below, where Duma Manzi is spread over 5 000ha on both sides of the river. After the recent rains, the bush was bursting with life. We hoped to see a scene like the one our ranger showed us on his camera. The day before he had come across buffalo bathing in a dam – a rare sight – and recorded the moment.
While the cantankerous buffalo did not oblige, nyala, giraffe, kudu, blesbuck, impala and warthog grazed contentedly, barely lifting their heads to spare us a glance.
Duma Manzi is divided into two camps: Sandstone and Fish Eagle, which are hemmed in on both sides by cliffs and a narrow fringe of indigenous bush. It doesn’t matter where you choose to hang out – on the decks of the main lodge, the deck of your room, or lolling in its glass-fronted bath, nature is always there, demanding your attention.
For that matter, I have never spent so many contented hours in a bar either, not because alcohol was calling, but because it had one of the most dramatic views of both the cliffs and river.
While the river had subsided slightly after heavy rains, it was still in full spate, burbling boisterously as it raced past. The rumble of it tumbling over the rocks was constant, and at night it lulled us to sleep. On our final night, rain upstream meant that it again swelled and raced tumultously.
Sitting on our deck late one afternoon, we spotted the flash of colour from a beautiful narina trogon. Beside about 250 bird species, we were told that leopard, aardwolf, honey badgers, caracal and genet also lurk in the forests, while Cape clawless otters play in the stream.
Rising early in the morning, the view was of mist cloaking everything; then the sun came out, transforming the mood.
Taking a walk along the river provided more delights. On a grassy patch, zebra and wildebeest grazed placidly. Spotting me, they thundered past, just metres away, letting out ungainly farts. A huge monitor lizard scrambled frantically across the rocks, monkeys stood on their hind legs, peering at me. A swing bridge suspended just above the swollen waters invited me to explore, while turning into the forest for a short walk provided a different kind of magic.
While there are several lounges, with fat sofas, all rigged out in Colonial African style with heavy teak furniture, it is the outdoor decks which are the most inviting.
Every night we dined al fresco, rather than in the dining room. Meals were delicious, and even the fruit salad was different: blackberries, blueberries, pomegranate, kiwi fruit, strawberry and mandarin segments. Unusually, prickly pears were also in evidence.
Being an eco-lodge there are no kettles or TV sets in the rooms. If you are one of those people who gets withdrawal symptoms without your TV, there is a TV lounge in the main lodge, along with DVDs.
The rooms have a supply of tea, coffee, long-life milk and rusks and after dinner, and early in the morning, a flask of hot water is brought to your room. Alternatively there’s a tea/coffee station in the main lodge.
There is also the option of staying up on the plateau in Hilltop Country House, which was built in 1880 and furnished with period pieces.
At Sandstone, each of the five luxury rooms has its own plunge pool on the deck, plus a swimming pool, while Fish Eagle (four rooms) has its own rock pool. On our last night we came home to an enchanting scene: dozens of tea lights scattered throughout our bathroom and the scented bathwater already drawn.
As though this was not enough to leave visitors chilled, there is also an award-winning spa, designed like a rock cavern, which was recently awarded a Les Nouvelles Esthetiques Safari Spa award.
You approach it along a rocky path through the forest. Some of the treatments take place in the rock cavern, others in a room next to the river, where the tranquility lounge is also located. As you lie on your treatment bed, if you are able to keep your eyes open amid such relaxation, there is a constant view of the forest.
A small “waterfall” drips into a pond; in the “wet-room” an African rain shower (shower heads suspended on a pipe) is swung across you after indulging in a body scrub. Two rock plunge pools, one hot (Jacuzzi) and one cold, massages and wraps, all bring a little bit of extra heaven.
For the kids there are activities such as tracking and birding for beginners; pod, seed and bug collecting; frogging; their own game drive in which they get to identify animal tracks; face painting and learning Zulu greetings.
Star gazing, in which participants learn Greek and Zulu lore surrounding the stars, is also on the cards for both adults and kids.
The first wagon road from Pietermaritzburg to Cape Town crossed the farm and can still be seen in parts.
Little has changed since those days, and one still gets the feel of wild Africa. It’s sublime!
• Various spa/accommodation packages are on offer. Contact: 033 212 9418/9; 082 653 3475; e-mail: [email protected] - Sunday Tribune